Jason Tedstone is a current doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson University and a full-time high school teacher. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Clemson in 2013 and his M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in 2015. Jason has taught engineering at the college-level, but he is currently reaching engineering and technology to high school students. His primary research focuses on students who leave Civil Engineering without completing the degree by way of switching majors, transferring, or dropping out of school. Under the advisory of Dr. Karen High, his research goal is to discover why students leave CE and what can be done to help them persist in their major.
Steven Edalgo is a doctoral candidate in the Engineering and Science Education department at Clemson University. He received his B.S. in Pure Mathematics from Georgia Southwestern State University in 2012, M.S. in Mathematical Sciences from McNeese State University in 2014, and M.S. in Mathematics Education from Oklahoma State University in 2017. He has taught undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses at several institutions in the Midwest and Southeastern regions of the United States. His teaching focus is in the areas of Calculus and Differential Equations. Steven’s primary research focuses on using phenomenological methods to understand how transfer students perceive their transitional experiences in Calculus II at a large land grant very high research institution (R1). In addition, he is involved with other research that investigates the development of a conceptual framework to explore how faculty mentoring influences faculty productivity. Lastly, along with his interests in mathematics and STEM education research, he is deeply interested in Educational Philosophy and Qualitative Inquiry.
Luke Duncan is currently a PhD student in Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University. He received an M.S. in Mathematical Sciences with an emphasis in Mathematical Analysis and Inverse Problems in 2019 after graduating from Bob Jones University with a B.S. in Secondary Mathematics Education in 2017. His primary research interest is in the field of math anxiety where he explores the relationships that exist between math anxiety, working memory, and math-related experiences. Other research experience and interests are in the topics of Calculus Success, Transfer Student Success, and Qualitative Research Methods Education.
Keith Balts is a part-time doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education department at Clemson University and currently serves as a Professor of Practice in Leadership within the College of Business at Clemson University. He also served as the commander of Clemson’s Air Force ROTC detachment, dual-hatted as the department chair for aerospace studies prior to assuming my current position. He received his B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and M.E. in Space Operations from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Keith also received two additional master’s degrees related to national security and leadership from Air University and the Naval War College and is a graduate of the United States Air Force Weapons School. Prior to coming to Clemson University in 2017, he served for his first twenty-five years as an Air Force space operations officer. His advisor is Dr. Karen High.
Libby Flanagan is a current doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson University. She received her B.S. in Biosystems Engineering from the Clemson University Honors Program in 2017. She completed a two-year teaching appointment with Teach for America in 2019, where she taught 6th-grade math and computer science in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She earned her M.S. in Biosystems Engineering at Clemson University in 2021. Libby was the lead teaching assistant for sophomore and junior-level Biosystems Engineering laboratories and was a NRT RIES (Resilient Infrastructure and Environmental Systems) fellow. She is currently a Graduate Teacher of Record in General Engineering at Clemson and will start as a Lecturer in Fall of 2024. Her research interests are in the areas of Empathy in Engineering, students perceptions of what an engineer does, and student engineering identity.
Leah M. Wiitablake is a current doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education department at Clemson University. She received her B.S. in Geology from California State University, Fullerton in 2018. As a graduate teaching assistant, Leah has taught lab sections for Structural Geology, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, and Surficial Geology and was a recipient of the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award 2021, the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award at the University level 2021, and a recipient of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers June 2021 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. As a graduate research assistant, Leah has worked on designing and assessing virtual reality field experiences for introductory geology courses and is currently involved with educational research focused on the collaborative development of robotics textbooks as open educational resources. Leah’s primary research focuses on undergraduate student interest, in particular, traditionally underrepresented minority students’ situational interest in STEM. Her advisor is Dr. Matthew Boyer.
Nicole Finch is a current doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson University. She has a background in Chemistry and has received her Associate’s in 2013, her BS in 2017, and her MS in 2022. Under the advisory of Dr. Karen High, her research goal is to develop chemistry curriculum for undergraduate students where novel pedagogies are used. She has worked with the American Chemical Society at Clemson and loves working events that aim to get younger students interested in science. Nicole has also been a chemistry laboratory teaching assistant, as well as a Chemistry Graduate Student Organization secretary.
Becky Tugman is a Lecturer in the Department of Public Health Science (PHS). She received her B.S. in Human Nutrition at the University of Wyoming and her M.S. in Health Education with an interdisciplinary focus of exercise science and nutrition at the University of Utah. Becky is a certified health education specialist (CHES). Her primary focus is faculty development for higher education, and her advisor is Dr. Karen High.
Jennifer Brown is a current doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson University. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Modern Languages (German) from the University Honors Program at Georgia Southern University in 2017. She earned her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University in 2020. Jennifer has taught the introduction to SolidWorks class at Clemson as an instructor of record, and prior to that, she was the lead teaching assistant for junior-level mechanical engineering laboratories. Her primary research focuses on inclusive faculty development with an emphasis on culturally-responsive graduate student mentoring. Her research goal is to support the holistic growth of future faculty by aligning mentoring expectations and needs. She collaborates on several projects with ESED students and faculty at Clemson, as well as colleagues from Penn State, Florida State University, University of Florida, UNC-Wilmington, Mercer University, and Georgia Southern University.
Randi Sims is a doctoral student in the Engineering and Science Education department at Clemson University. She received her B.S. in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences from Clemson in 2017 and received her M.S. in Biology in August of 2022. She has a background in mentoring undergraduate Creative Inquiry students and has taught laboratory sections in introductory biology, vertebrate biology, and behavioral ecology. Her research interests are in creating opportunities and experiences for undergraduate students to conduct research alongside faculty and graduate student mentors.
Abby Boyd is an ESED PhD Candidate and will be starting her fourth year in the program at the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year. She has earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Mercer University, 2017) and has recently received her MS in Chemistry (which she completed en route, concurrently with her ESED PhD coursework and research activities). Abby served (and is currently serving) as a Chemistry GTA for the lab associated with the course Chemistry in Context during the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters, teaching one lab section in each. Abby has significant training in teaching undergraduate science courses. She also has pedagogical experience teaching online, as she was a significant contributor to the ESED course Teaching STEM Online, a response to our rapid transition to online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Karen High Education Research 